The Other Side of Hard

Hard. Those "wilderness" times in life. Those times of challenge, confusion, difficulty. Hard. The particular circumstances can vary. The length of the season is sometimes short lived, and at times so very ongoing. There are deserts that are relational, physical, financial, spiritual. We all have been there. Some of you may be in the midst of a dry wilderness right now. The sand is swirling around you, as you tread over the dunes of potential despair. The season may seem like a long winter. There is no end in sight. Occasionally you come upon an oasis, only to realize it was but a mirage.

You persevere. One step after another. One day after another. You pray. You hope. You wait.

But the good news is, there is the other side. It will come. You will find yourself on the other shore. The waters will eventually part. But when you get to the other side, God will not meet you there.

Why? Because He has been with you all along. Through the desert. Through the wilderness. Through the eventual parted waters. Through the hard.

I have seen it. Time and again. Dear ones. On a journey. At times, a long, tempestuous journey. The struggle was real. The heartache was intense. The challenge was immence.

They prayed. We prayed. They kept marching on. And so did time.

And the day comes. The other side! They look back on where they have been, what they have come through. And they realize the Truth. ONLY by the grace of God!

And they come through it stronger. Wiser. More compassionate of others. More equipped to be used. By the King for the Kingdom. A redemption story. A God story.

There are many of them, the stories. And those stories, they encourage me, inspire me. I think of our friend and neighbor. He was in prison for a time. A very hard time. For him and his family. But they got through. By the grace of God. And now, because of God's redemptive plan, he lives to not only tell about it, but preach about it. A God story!

I think of my friend and her family. They got to know St. Jude Children's Hospital well. Too well. Their precious Hunter was a warrior. Towards the end of his precious young life, he declared, "I am no slave to cancer, but a servant of Christ!" His parents walked with him through the wilderness of hard and now he is on the other side. The ultimate "other side". With His Jesus. And his parents live on, stronger, wiser, hurting alot, but sharing. Of the goodness of God!

I think of our son. He was young. Turned 19 in the hospital. Paralyzed for a time. A journey through the unknown, through pain and rehab and therapy. Trusting Jesus. And now, almost 18 years later (hard to believe), a husband, father, professor. A trusting follower of His Jesus, sharing of the goodness of God. A walking testimony of God's faithfulness!

I think of some friends who have been waiting for relational family restoration. It has been years. They wait, They pray. They smile. Often. Sometimes through tears. They walk with peace. How can they? They trust. Knowing God is seeing them through. To the other side. Someday. (I am coming back to this post with a wonderful update! The Lord reached down with a special validation of His care and goodness! Today they were blessed with a beautiful gift of a miracle grandson! Born on Grandma's birthday! A bright spot along their journey of hard!)

How often do we lift someone up in prayer. Time and time again as they battle a physical challenge. Reports come in. There is concern. There is hard. And then comes the day. There they are sitting in church, once again. Thankful. Relieved. Likely with new found appreciation. Does the singing sound sweeter? Do the coffee and doughnuts taste better? Is "sitting under the sound of the Word" more precious? On the other side.

I think of couples I have known who have known aching empty arms. Those women who have known heartbeats within them, heatbeats that went from the womb to glory with no stop in between. And later, I have seen those same aching arms filled with love as they embraced new life, a new gift.

We all know that we do not release the pain and the hurt like a discarded garment on a pile on the shore. Sometimes we still wear it, inside us. But we do find ourselves in a new place and on the other side.

I read from Isaiah 51:3-11 the other day. This blog had been on my mind. The verses resonated strong in my soul as God shared Truth, applicable Truth. Verse 10 states "Are you not the One who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep: That made the depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over."

Yes, our God will make a way. Through the hard. Through the swirling waters of the great deep. Through the wilderness. And there will be no need to meet him on the other side. For He is treading with us all along, each step along the sandy way. Trekking with us until we reach the other side, and then beyond....

beyond and into that joyful redemptive place, the other side of Hard.